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Confectionery

Confectionery is food rich in sugar. Items of confectionery -- confections -- are also known by regional terms such as "candy" in American English (although this term also means a kind of confectionery and does not include some items called confectionery, see below and the separate article), "sweets" in British English, or "lollies" in Australian English and New Zealand English.

Confectionery items include sweets, lollies, candy bars, chocolate and other sweet items of snack food. The term is not generally used for cakes, biscuits or puddings which require cutlery to consume although there are exceptions such as petits fours or meringues. These are not termed candy in the US.

Many confections are termed candy. There are many categories and types of candy, including the following list:

However not all confections are candy in the strict sense. Among the others are the following list:

A note on spelling: confectionery is the product; whereas a purveyor of confections is a confectionary. e.g. "Mr Smith's confectionary sells confectionery made by Mrs Smith."

Further Reading